Diamond Peak is a 3,512-foot-elevation (1,070 meter)

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

located in the western end of the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

, on the Hualapai Indian Reservation in

Mohave County Mohave County occupies the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 counties in the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is th ...

of northwestern

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. This

double summit Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

landmark is situated at the mouth of Peach Springs Canyon, where Diamond Creek meets the Colorado River. This peak is an erosional remnant composed of

Cambrian The Cambrian ( ) is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 51.95 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran period 538.8 Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Ordov ...

Muav Limestone The Muav Limestone is a Cambrian geologic formation within the 5-member Tonto Group. It is a thin-bedded, gray, medium to fine-grained, mottled dolomite; coarse- to medium-grained, grayish-white, sandy dolomite and grayish-white, mottled, fine-g ...

and

Mississippian Mississippian may refer to: * Mississippian (geology), a subperiod of the Carboniferous period in the geologic timescale, roughly 360 to 325 million years ago * Mississippian cultures, a network of precontact cultures across the midwest and Easte ...

Redwall Limestone The Redwall Limestone is an erosion-resistant, Mississippian age, cliff-former, cliff-forming geological formation that forms prominent, red-stained cliffs in the Grand Canyon. these cliffs range in height from to . It is one of the most fossili ...

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as Diamond Peak towers 2,200 feet above the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

in one-half mile. According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Diamond Peak is located in a

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

zone.

History

In 1858, Lieutenant Joseph Ives led an expedition up the Colorado River, starting at the river's mouth and making it to the lower Grand Canyon with a steamboat named

Explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

. This steamboat sustained damage when it struck a large rock, now known as Explorer's Rock, in the Colorado River at the mouth of the Black Canyon between Arizona and Nevada. The exploratory party continued overland, and descended into the Grand Canyon via Peach Springs Canyon with the assistance of Hualapai guides. On April 5, 1858, this party spent two days camped near the mouth of Diamond Creek and became the first European Americans known to reach the Colorado River within Grand Canyon.

John Strong Newberry John Strong Newberry (December 22, 1822 – December 7, 1892) was an American physician, geologist and paleontologist. He participated as a naturalist and surgeon on three expeditions to explore and survey the western United States. During the C ...

was the geologist for the Ives' expedition, and the first geologist to see the Grand Canyon. For his part of the expedition report, Newberry described the first stratigraphic sections of the Grand Canyon and the first description of the fossils. Diamond Peak and Diamond Creek were named by Ives and Newberry. In his ''Report upon the Colorado River of the West; Explored in 1857 and 1858'', Ives wrote: "The extent and magnitude of the system of canyons is astounding. The plateau is cut into shreds by these gigantic chasms, and resembles a vast ruin. Belts of country miles in width have been swept away, leaving only isolated mountains standing in the gap. Fissures so profound that the eye cannot penetrate their depths are separated by walls whose thickness one can almost span, and slender spires that seem to be tottering upon their bases shoot up thousands of feet from the vaults below... The region is, of course, altogether valueless. It can be approached only from the south, and after entering it there is nothing to do but leave. Ours has been the first, and will doubtless be the last, party of whites to visit this profitless locality. It seems intended by nature that the Colorado River, along the greater portion of its lonely and majestic way, shall be forever unvisited and undisturbed." History shows that Ives failed to foresee the alluring adventure of riding the river via raft. Today, most Colorado River

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

adventures through the Grand Canyon terminate at Diamond Peak because of a beach at Diamond Creek and road which provides an easy exit from the lower Grand Canyon.Diamond Creek, grcahistory.org
/ref> Diamond Peak is the landmark that alerts rafters to this exit point. Diamond Peak is at river mile 225, that being the distance from

Lees Ferry Lees Ferry (also known as Lee's Ferry, Lee Ferry, Little Colorado Station and Saints Ferry) is a site on the Colorado River in Coconino County, Arizona in the United States, about southwest of Page and south of the Utah–Arizona state l ...

, where rafters start their journey.

Gallery

File:Diamond Peak, south aspect.jpg, Diamond Peak, south aspect. Muav Limestone overlain by conspicuous cliff-forming Redwall Limestone. File:Diamond Creek Road and Diamond Peak.jpg, Diamond Creek Road and Diamond Peak File:MÖLLHAUSEN(1861) 2.070 Der Diamant Bach (Diamond creek).jpg, Diamond Beach by

Balduin Möllhausen Heinrich Balduin Möllhausen (27 January 1825—28 May 1905) was a German writer, traveler and artist who visited the United States and participated in three separate expeditions exploring the American frontier. After his travel he became a popular ...

, artist for Ives' expedition File:Side Canyons of Diamond River, Grand Canyon.jpg, Diamond Peak by Balduin Möllhausen, the artist for Ives' expedition File:Diamond Peak aerial.jpg, View from airliner looking north with Diamond Peak centered in bullseye File:The Inner Canyon Tour. (39996875641).jpg, Peach Springs Canyon. Tip of Diamond Peak annotated on file. File:Diamond Peak, west Grand Canyon.jpg, Diamond Peak with Colorado River, from the north File:Diamond Peak in the Grand Canyon.jpg File:Diamond Peak, Colorado River.jpg

References

External links

* Weather forecast
National Weather Service

Diamond Peak photo
by

Harvey Butchart John Harvey Butchart (May 10, 1907 – May 29, 2002) was an American hiker and mathematician who was well known for his exploits in and around the Grand Canyon in Arizona, United States. Beginning in 1945, Butchart explored the Grand Canyon's bac ...

Diamond Peak summit photo
by Harvey Butchart
South Summit from North Summit
by Harvey Butchart
Diamond Peak photo, circa 1890
by Robert Brewster Stanton * Diamond Peak photo
Flickr
{{Geology of the Grand Canyon area, , state=collapsed Grand Canyon Mountains of Arizona Landforms of Mohave County, Arizona Colorado Plateau One-thousanders of the United States Buttes of Arizona

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links